OET Listening Transcripts

Melons 1

The listening part of the occupational English test has three parts and in each part you will hear a number of different extracts. At the beginning of the test, you will hear a beep sound. You will have time to read the questions before you hear the extracts. You will hear each extract once only. You have to complete your answers as you listen. At the end of each test, you will be given two minutes to check your answers.

Part A.

In this part of the test, you will hear two different extracts. In each extract, a healthcare professional is talking to his patient. For questions one to 24, complete the notes with the information you hear.

Now look at the notes. For extract one. 

Extract one.

Questions one to twelve, you hear a physician talking to a new patient called misses Delilah. For questions one to twelve, complete the following notes with a word or short phrase. You now have 30 seconds to look at the notes.

• Hello doctor. 
• Yes, miss. Alyssa, what’s your problem? 
• I’m getting acne from continually washing the area around my chin, right temple and left temple, and the condition is still worsening.
• What’s your age? 
• 19. 
• How old were you when you started your period? 
• Well, it was when I was 13. 
• And can you describe the length of your cycle? Once in 24 days.
• And it lasts for almost six days. Would you describe the flow as light or thicken? Hmm, it’s light. Do you use any medication? Yeah, I take the oral contraceptive pill.
• Are you allergic to any drugs? Yes, allergic to penicillin. I feel difficulty in breathing. What are the medicines you are taking? Hmm.
• Alicia? 28 20 mcg, ten milligram tablet. 
• Is anyone in your family prone to any disease? 
• Yeah, my mom has stress disorder and anxiety. 
• Do you smoke or drink? 
• I don’t smoke, but I drink socially.
• You drink caffeine? 
• Yeah. Four servings a day. 
• Hmm. Your diagnosis report shows you have symptoms of periodic reddening of face acne problems and allergies. And a diagnosis of epocrine and apocrine glands shows no evidence of hyperhidrosis, chromhidrosis or bromhidrosis. But your face shows keratotic papule. I would suggest you go for antibiotic therapy. Take a tetracycline 250 milligram capsule. I would also suggest you take an oral antibiotic therapy with doxycycline 100 milligrams a day. 
• Doctor, why does the acne occur? Acne is a skin condition that happens when your hair follicles become clogged with oil and dead skin cells.
• It often results in blackheads or pimples, whiteheads, and often appears on the face, chest, forehead, chin, shoulders, and upper back and shoulders. Most acne is most common among teenagers like you. The androgen hormones increase during puberty, causing the sebaceous glands to enlarge and secrete more sebum.
• Hormonal changes during pregnancy and the use of oral contraceptives also impact sebum secretion. Moreover, low amounts of androgens circulate in the blood can still worsen acne. Medications such as drugs containing corticosteroids, testosterone or lithium worsens the disease.
• Which foods should I avoid, doctor? Certain dietary factors such as skim milk and carbohydrate rich foods such as bagel spread and potato chips worsen acne. Can you recommend any effective foods for acne? You must stop eating processed sugar, caffeine, dairy products and processed foods. And you should include foods that are rich of antioxidants, anti inflammatory compounds and other acne fighting nutrients.
• Foods such as blueberries, sweet potatoes, green tea, carrots, cilantro, spearmint, oats, apples, barley and mustard greens. Okay. Thank you, doctor.
• Thank you. 

Extract two questions 13 to 24. You hear a physician talking to a patient.

For questions 13 to 24, complete the following notes with a word or short phrase. You now have 30 seconds to look at the notes. 

• Good morning.
• I’ve got an appointment with Doctor Gonzalevez at 8.30. Okay. Please be seated.
• Let me check with your record. In the meantime, please sign in and be seated. Margaret Nicholson.
• I’m here. Follow me to room number three, please. Here we are.
• What’s the reason for your visit today? Well, lately I have been feeling really tired, and often I get frequent headaches and an upset stomach. Moreover, ive been getting a persistent cough for, like, the last three weeks. When did these symptoms start? I started feeling tired all the time about two months ago.
• Then a few days after that, the headaches started. I got the upset stomach long before feeling the tiredness. Are you taking any medications? Only vitamins.
• What vitamins are you taking? I am taking vitamin C and I multivitamins. Habit daily. Okay.
• Let me examine your vital signs. How am I doing? Everything is normal. No high temperature, and your blood pressure is also normal.
• Please wait for a moment here. Thank you, doctor. I see here that you have started feeling tiredness two months ago and then frequent headaches.
• You are also suffering with an upset stomach and a persistent cough. Did you run a fever as well? No, doctor. Let me perform a quick physical checkup.
• Take a deep breath. Hold your breath for a moment and exhale. Repeat this again.
• Have there been any changes in your diet or your weight recently? My diet is the same as usual. However, I lost five pounds very recently. Did you ever suffer from insomnia? Well, it is pretty hard for me to fall asleep.
• I also wake up often during the night. Do you drink or smoke? No, doctor. Well, recently the ownership has changed and I had to work a lot of overtime at late hours, even during the weekends.
• I think you are suffering from pneumonia. Other than that, I do not see any other problem. The reason could be probably the stress at your workplace that causes headaches, upset stomach, sleeplessness.
• For now, try to relax yourself and start doing exercises. Meet me again after you receive all the medical diagnosis reports. I’m going to prescribe medicines for bacterial pneumonia.
• Are you allergic to any medicine? Not to my knowledge. I want you to do a blood test and urine test to identify the bacteria streptococcus pneumoniae and legionella pneumonophila. Is it something serious, doctor? Not at all.
• I doubt that could be bacterial pneumonia. Take levofloxacin 750 milligrams orally every 24 hours for seven to 14 days. I want to know my cholesterol level.
• When will I get the medical reports, doctor? You will get the medical results in two weeks. Don’t stress yourself. Everything will be okay.
• Can pneumonia be prevented, doctor? In most of the cases, pneumonia can be prevented. You can have a vaccine to defend against pneumonia. Once you get all these medical investigation reports, I would suggest prevnar 13 pneumonia vaccine that is very effective against 13 types of bacterial pneumonia.
• What foods should I include in my diet, doctor? Have plenty of fruit juice and fresh fruits, yogurts, milkshakes, smoothies. Eat plenty of full cream, milk or yogurt, or even ice cream with light meals of lean meat, fish or eggs and cooked vegetables. Thank you, doctor.
• You are welcome. 

This is the end of part A. Now look at part b part B.

In this part of the test, you will hear six different extracts in each extract. Youll hear people talking in a different healthcare environment. For questions 25 30, choose the answer a, b or c, which fits best according to what you hear.

You will have time to read each question before you listen. Complete the answers as you listen to the audio. 

Now look at question 25.

You hear a physician explaining to his nurse about skin cancer. Now read the question. 

Skin cancers are caused by the abnormal cells that are capable enough to invade and spread to other parts of the body. Generally, skin cancers are classified as melanoma or non melanoma. Skin cancers such as basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma, in addition to less common types of tumors such as merkel cell carcinoma, lymphomas, kaposi sarcoma, or hair and sweat gland tumors. Skin cancer symptoms include alterations in the appearance of a mole or spot on the skin or the developing of a new spot or lump on the skin. It may also cause symptoms and signs such as itching, skin ulcerations, scaling, swelling or bleeding, etcetera. 

Question 26. 

You hear a physician explaining to his patient about depressive disorder. Now read the question. 

Depression is a sickness involving the body, thoughts and mood that severely impacts the way a person sleeps, eats, behaves, and the way one feels about oneself. Depressive disorders are categorized by pervasive mood swings that severely affect all aspects of an individuals daily activities. A depressive disorder is not just a mood swing, but it is more of a case of persistent sadness. Certain symptoms of depression include feelings of worthlessness, helplessness, hopelessness, guilty feeling, lack of interest, irritability, loss of appetite, loss of energy, self loathing, sleep disorders, etcetera. 

Question 27.

You hear the discussion of two doctors about the frailty score concept in age patients. Now read the question.

Doctor, should frailty be considered before any operation? 

In an older person, frailty is not just a phrase, but a health metric that should be performed before the surgery. To any older person, I think the frailty score is a very good concept. It may dictate the objective of the surgery. The frailty score concept relates to the inexorable decline of physiological reserve that is a normal consequence of the aging process. We must consider that a healthy 60 year old will not be as fit as a healthy 40 year old individual when faced with the necessity to have surgery. The frailty concept really is more objective. Frailty can be simply evaluated with a walking test, such as a very slow walk speed or an inability to walk very far, giving a good approximation. Both patient and loved ones should consider the consequences of surgery before the procedure begins, especially in the frail.

Question 28.

You hear the discussion between two doctors about epidermolosis bullosa in children. Now read the question. Doctor, could you please explain to me the severity of epidermolysis bullosa in children? Well, epidermolosis bullosa is a rare genetic condition in children. The genes that cause epidermolosis bullosa may be present in other family members as well. There are four major categories of epidermolosus bullosa. In the case of epidermal bullosa simplex, there will be blistering mainly on the hands and feet with little scarring or without scarring at all when it becomes severe, the patient will have more widespread blistering and other severe medical conditions like blistering in the mouth and digestive tract. In the patients with milder junctional epidermolosis bullosa, there will be limited blistering that often improves with age. Patients may also have hair loss and abnormal fingernails and toenails. Children are prone to have growth and malnutrition issues. The scarring type of dystrophic epidermolosis bullosa, especially in mild cases, the blistering is primarily found on elbows, feet and hands. When the disease becomes severe, there is a higher risk of developing skin cancer as the patient gets older. In the case of Kindler syndrome, the patients have an increased sensitivity to sunlight in addition to blistering.

Question 29, you hear the physician briefing to his staff about clonus disease.

Now read the question. Clonus is a neurological condition that is suffered when the controlling nerve of the muscles are damaged, causing involuntary muscle contractions. Often, clonus spasms occur in a rhythmic pattern. Symptoms are very common in a few muscles, such as knees, ankles, wrists, calves, jaw, biceps. Damaged nerves results in misfire, leading to muscle tightness, involuntary contractions and pain. Clonus causes a muscle pulse for an extended period that can result in muscle fatigue.

Question 30. You hear the discussion between two doctors about how to cope with delirium in patients in ICU. Now read the question. 

Doctor, I feel that a solution should be devised to cope with delirium in patients in ICU. What do you think? Allopyritol has been used for a long time in patients in ICU in an attempt to prevent delirium, a very severe and sometimes persistent acute confusion. According to a recent study, haloperidol is ineffective. Delirium is extremely prominent since it’s strongly associated with cognitive impairments for long term significantly, medications are the means that patients approach often. However, unfortunately, it’s demonstrated that medications aren’t the right approach always, or at least the haloperidol. Nevertheless, for delirium theres not going to be a miracle in terms of medications.

This is the end of part B. Now look at Part C.

Part C

In this part of the test, you’ll hear two different extracts.

In each extract. You’ll hear health professionals talking about specific aspects of their work. For questions 31 42, choose the answer a, b or c, which fits best according to what you hear.

Complete the answers as you listen to the audio. Now look at extract one. 

Questions 31 36

You hear the lecture given by a senior surgeon on the role of diabetes in the end stage, renal disease. You have 90 seconds to read questions 31 to 36.

Role of diabetes in the end stage renal disease. 

Of late, diabetes has become the primary cause of end stage renal disease worldwide. This is due to the fact that diabetes, especially diabetes type two, is increasing. Approximately 45% of new patients receiving dialysis in the US are diabetic. Early diagnosis of diabetes and early intervention are crucial to prevent the progression towards renal failure seen in a significant percentage of type two diabetic patients and in many type one diabetics. The presence of microalbuminuria is the early clinical evidence of diabetic neuropathy, defined as the appearance of low but abnormal levels of albumin in the urine.

The characteristics of diabetic neuropathy are a decline in glomerular filtration ratio, progressive increase in protein urea, hypertension and a high risk of cardiovascular morbidity. Therefore, the evidence of microalbuminuria should trigger diagnosis for possible vascular diseases and aggressive intervention to cope with all cardiovascular risk factors in diabetics. Type one and two the natural history of diabetic neuropathy progresses slowly over the years.

In type one diabetes, microalbuminuria occurs after five years and the end stage renal disease develops in 50% of type one diabetics, whereas type two diabetes has a more variable course. Very few patients with microalbuminuria progress to advance renal disease without intervention. Approximately 20% of patients of type two diabetes develop an end stage renal disease.

However, due to the increased number of type two diabetes patients compared to type one diabetes, the maximum number of patients on dialysis are type two diabetics. There are many factors which account for the pathophysiological of diabetic neuropathy, primarily anatomical and structure changes in the kidney result in increased glomerular capillary pressure in diabetes, which is associated with hyper filtration at the glomerulus. The next factor is the glucose that can increase the formation of advanced glycosylation end products by inversely binding to proteins in kidneys and circulation.

Over the years, these formed advanced glycosylation end products, which stimulate the growth in fibrotic factors contributing to overall renal damage. Thirdly, angiotensin II contributes to the advancement of diabetic neuropathy by narrowing the efferent arteriole in the glomerus, subsequently resulting in higher glomerular capillary pressures while diagnosing diabetic neuropathy. Early investigation of glucose intolerance in diabetes to distinguish patients who are at risk for developing microalbuminuria is suggested, especially if they have other risks for type two diabetes, such as lipid central obesity abnormalities or hypertension.

Therefore, the investigation of microalbuminuria presence should be performed at diagnosis in patients with type two diabetes, whereas in patients with type one diabetes. Since microalbuminuria rarely occurs with short term type one diabetes, the diagnosis should begin after five years of disease. According to the findings, the microvascular complications develop during the prepubertal period of diabetes.

Therefore, clinical judgment should be demonstrated when individualizing these suggestions. The object of diabetic neuropathy therapy involves multiclinical approaches. Tight glycemic control is the keystone in the prevention and management of diabetic neuropathy.

The United Kingdom Perspective Diabetes study and diabetes control and complications trial have established that an intensive diabetes therapy can considerably decrease the risk of microalbuminuria and neuropathy development. Nonetheless, blood pressure control is another keystone in prevention and treatment. In addition to glycemic control, the significance of blood pressure control, irrespective of what agent is used, cannot be emphasized enough in diabetes, both for slow progression of neuropathy and for preventing cardiovascular morbidity.

According to the recent joint National Committee guidelines, blood pressure in diabetics is reduced to less than 130 80 mmhg. It is very crucial for doctors and patients to understand early on the three or more agents. Angiotensin receptor blockers or andiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors are considered first line agents in patients with cocommittin hypertension and diabetes.

Diuretics might be added as a second line agent in many cases after angiotensin blockade in diabetes dihydropidines, a class of calcium channel blockers, may be considered as the third or fourth line agents in diabetics only after initiation of angiotensin blockade and diuretics. There are also other non pharmaceutical suggestions such as dietary restriction of protein intake. Restrictions of protein to 0.8

grams/kg weight per day in patients with overt neuropathy, or even 0.6 grams/kg weight per day is recommended in the case of declining glomerular filtration ratio. Moreover, it is very essential to stick to a low sodium diet in diabetic neuropathy since many diabetics with renal disease are salt sensitive.

Therefore, restricting salt intake will certainly help in reaching blood pressure goals with secondary benefits of regression of left ventricle hypertrophy, decreased stroke risk, and reduction in proteinuria. A recommended low sodium diet of 2.3 grams daily in patients with diabetes in either hypertension or proteinuria moreover, avoiding nephrotoxin agents such as radiocontrast media non steroidal anti inflammatory drugs is highly recommended.

Last but not least, annual diagnosis of microalbumin urea in diabetics will allow the detection of neuropathy at an early stage. Improved glycemic control and intensive anti hypertensive treatment will ultimately slow down the progression of diabetics neuropathy. 

Now look at extract two questions 37 42.

You hear the instruction given by a physician to his staff about a senior surgery on alpha and beta thalassemia. You have 90 seconds to read questions 37 to 42. 

Alpha and beta thalmusemia thalmosemia is a hereditary disease of the red blood cells called erythrocytes. The disease is classified as hemoglobinopathy. The genetic disorder results in the composition of an abnormal hemoglobin molecule. The blood cells are prone to mechanical injury and die easily. Many patients with thalassemia require periodic blood transfusions for their survival. The thalamusemie ins are classified based on the infection chain of the globin molecule. The production of alpha globin is deficient in alpha globin thalamusemia, while beta globin is defective in beta thalassemia.

Alpha thalamusemians lead to excess gamma chains in newborns and excess beta chain production in adults. The excess beta chains produce unstable tetramers with abnormal oxygen dissociation curves. Alpha globin has four genetic loci. The more of these loci are defective or affected by the mutation, the more serious the manifestation of the disease will be. Missing one loci or abnormal gene makes a child a silent alpha thalamusemian carrier. Silent alpha thalassemia carriers develop no symptoms or signs of the disease, however, are able to pass thalmosemia on to their children. 

Missing two loci or mutated genes is a condition called alpha thalmosemia minor or having alpha thalamusemia trait. In this condition, the red blood cells may be smaller than normal, called microcytosis, and at times may have very mild anemia. The condition of missing three loci or mutated genes is called hemoglobin H disease. 

Symptoms and signs will be moderate to severe. In the case that all four loci are affected, the fetus cannot survive once outside the uterus, resulting in stillbirth with hydrops fatalis. Even if it is born alive, it will die shortly after birth. Beta thalamissemia occurs when the gene that controls the secretion of beta globin is defective. Beta thalamusemia can result in anemia ranging from mild to severe and is very common in people of african, south asian and mediterranean descent. Alpha globin, along with beta globin, is one of the proteins that composes hemoglobin. Beta globin is made on chromosome eleven. Beta thalamycemia is classified into three major categories depending on the number of mutated beta globin genes and the intensity of the mutations. Beta thalamycemia trait, or beta thalamycemia minor, occurs when one of the beta globin genes are mutated.

Typically, patients with this condition have very mild signs and symptoms that don’t require any treatment. However, they can pass on thalamusemia to their children. Usually, the patients are mildly anemic and their red blood cells are smaller than normal, a condition called microcytosis. Beta thalamusemia major occurs when both of the beta globin genes are altered and the mutations are severe. This is the most severe condition of beta thalamusmia. Children with beta thalamusmia major often appear healthy immediately after birth, but start developing symptoms within the subsequent two years of their life.

This condition results in severe symptoms with life threatening anemia requiring periodic blood transfusions. Mutations of both the beta globin genes may also result in beta thalamycemia intermedia however, the mutations are less severe than beta thalamusmia major. Patients with this condition usually have moderately severe anemia and at times require periodic blood transfusions.

That is the end of part C. You now have two minutes to check your answers.

Next: Melons 6